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So to follow-up on my last post, I went to the doctor on Friday and they basically recommended that I stop running in my old running shoes (which I already suspected) and they also gave me some exercises to prevent plantar fasciitis. Some of the pain I was experiencing was starting to show signs of plantar issues. They told me to continue to ice, use ibuprofen for inflammation and use different shoes.

Right after my appointment I went to Marathon Sports right in Cambridge. I’ve heard a lot of great things about them, specifically that they will fit you for running shoes. When I got there they had me take off my shoes and walk around to determine my gait. Then they had me run outside in a pair of shoes to view my running form. They told me that I have a normal gait, which was surprising because I’ve heard that I over pronate in the past.

After that they brought out a bunch of sneakers for me to try out. I was able to try them on and jog outside on the sidewalk in them to get a feel for them. It was a great experience and I’ve never been to a running store that was that thorough.

I’ve done long and short runs in them and couldn’t be happier. I can’t stand heavy running shoes so finding something light weight was important to me and these shoes are not only light, but are nicely cushioned. The tongue of the shoe also stays in place while I run, which hasn’t been the case with some of my other sneakers. I wasn’t a fan of the color at first, but they’ve grown on me. I also haven’t been experiencing foot pain which is the most important part, so I’m happy.

This week I started month two of my training which includes some new workouts for the strength training days. Here is what my week looks like:

Monday

Track 6 x 400 Goal: Time Yourself. Beat Your Time with each 400 that you run. Optional: Strength Train WO

No strength training for me, but here were my 400 times:

1:47
1:44
1:38
1:35
1:28
1:26

Tuesday

Tempo Run: 2 miles EASY

I ran this in 16:07 on the treadmill.

Wednesday

Strength Train A

There were a bunch of new workouts and I’m really sore today.

Thursday

Tempo Run 2: 2 mile Goal: Meet/ Beat Tuesday’s Run Time

I did beat Tuesday’s time at 15:50 outdoors. I caught a bunch of traffic lights so this could have been faster.

Friday

Off – resting to get my PR in the 5k on Saturday

Saturday

5K Race – Beat your PR

Sunday

Off

To follow the training schedule I ended up signing up for a 5k this Saturday. I haven’t run a race in a while so I’m excited. I just looked at the weather today though and it’s expected to rain on Saturday. I’m still going to try my hardest to get my personal record and I will try not to let the weather deter me from that. I’ll post soon to say how the race went and also to list the strength training exercises I’m doing this month.

Training continues. As I mentioned in my last post, my grad classes are coming to an end so these last couple of weeks have been really hectic and I can’t post as often as I would like.

Last time I wrote I was getting ready to head out with my parents who were visiting. We did brunch, shopped and walked around Cambridge for a bit. It was a lot of fun and it was great to see them. I do talk to them regularly, but with classes I don’t see them as often as I would like.

Brunch pic with my mom. I had a tasty gingerbread waffle.

Me and my dad walking around the city.

Matt came up after my parents left later in the afternoon and we went out to dinner Friday night and went dancing Saturday. I had an awesome weekend and I barely thought about school which was nice.

Training Week 2

This week was tough. It was a lot of work just trying to get my runs and workouts in around my schedule, but I made it work. There were quite a few early mornings. One downside was earlier in the week my tendonitis started to flare up again so I cut out one of my running days and switched my training around to be able to take a few days off of running. I do think it helped,my foot has been feeling a lot better. I’ve been doing a lot of preventative icing, stretching and taking ibuprofen.

Monday

I took today off to rest my foot. I’m really trying to avoid any injuries so listening to my body was important.

Tuesday

Strength Train A – This week I did all the sets. It was tough and I was pretty sore. I didn’t want to run today to give my foot another day off so this was a good way to still get a workout in.

I live in an area with basically no hills so I did this workout on the treadmill. If you can do a hill sprint workout outside I would recommend it. The treadmill sounded like it was going to break on me. I completed this workout in 30:20.

Thursday

2.5 mile. I ended up running about 2.66 miles in 19:43.

Friday

Strength Train B. This was a super tough workout with a lot of leg work. I did a lot of squats and lunges and my legs were definitely feeling this.

Saturday

4 mile run- flat with some rolling hills. I was super sore from my workout Friday. This was a great run because Matt did most of it with me. I completed this in 31:52.

Sunday (Today)

A much needed rest day. My legs are sore and it feels good to have a day off.

This week I have a bunch of group meetings and a paper due, but I will try to check in again at the end of the week.

Happy Leap Day! I received a barrage of emails from retailers the morning with Leap Day sales, really!? I didn’t know this was a retailing holiday. There are some good sales out there if you are looking for them, but I’ll be spending my extra day getting in a good workout and doing school stuff after I get out of work.

Yesterday, was not a good workout day. I went to the gym last night super excited with a goal of just running for 50 minutes straight. No distance goal, but just trying to go for endurance. However, I got changed into my workout gear and took my iPod nano out of my gym bag to only find out it wasn’t turning on. First, I was freaking out hoping there wasn’t something wrong with it, then I realized there was no way I could run on a treadmill without music. I’ve run plenty of times outdoors without music and I enjoy that because you have a change of scenery, but the treadmill is a whole different story.

I changed my running goal to complete 3.1 miles, even this was rough. Here are some techniques I used to keep it interesting.

1. Use varying speeds

Going at just one speed can get monotonous. Switching it up with different speeds or even inclines is a great way to keep the treadmill interesting.

2. Don’t watch the clock

Even when I have music I try to avoid looking at the clock or time on the treadmill. I tend to cover my treadmill with a towel so I don’t fixate on my time.

3. Focus on something

Luckily my gym has TVs. I tend to watch them even when I have music, but I made sure I tried to get in front of one with an interesting channel. I tend to avoid the TV that has the food network, instead I look to see if a sitcom is on or just watch the news. When I don’t have a TV I do some people watching, which is always interesting at the gym. I count other peoples reps or slyly make note of the exercises they are doing to learn some new routines.

I ended up finishing the 5k in 24:10, which I thought was impressive considering I was music-less and lacking some motivation. I was also a little uspet because I use my iPod nano to track my runs with the attached Nike+ software, so I wasn’t able to do that and I’m very close to reaching my next level. For any other Nike+ users, I’m currently at green with just over 500 miles and on my way to blue!

When I got home I found out my iPod was ok! I plugged it in and it turned on. I’m thinking I must have left it playing accidentally and the battery died. I made sure I plugged it in last night before bed so I would have a full battery for my run tonight. I’m going to do the workout I had planned on for yesterday and run for a steady 50 minutes, I have my music so I have no excuses.

I’m feeling much better after dealing with a crappy cold earlier in the week. I’m still super congested, so I’m hoping I can kick this cold this weekend with a little extra rest.

My classes started last night and I think I’m going to enjoy this class. It’s an entertainment marketing class, so we get to talk a lot about pop culture and celebrity. The workload doesn’t seem too overwhelming either, just three major graded projects and reading. Originally I was going to switch this class, but I think I will enjoy it. It will be a fun class to have my last semester.

This morning I did a workout challenge that was posted on Zuzana Light’s Facebook page (ex- Bodyrock.tv host?), 6 burpees, 6 plyo squats, 6 lunge backs repeated 13 times. I thought it would be easy but it was a pretty tough workout, half way through my hamstrings were burning.

After work today I did a bit of an interval workout.

My fast pace was set at 7.7 for the first half mile and I sped up to 8. The second mile I stayed at 8 and the third mile I up’ed my speed to 8.3. My walk pace was 2.5. I did this in about 44 minutes. I want to do more of these long interval workouts because I definitely want to increase my speed on my runs, which brings me to my topic for the day, motivation!

Since I graduated from college in ’09 I feel like I’ve been more motivated to take care of my health and my body. I’ve been running since high school and have always included some light weights on the machines at the gym. In college I went to the gym because I enjoyed it, I’ve always loved running, but I didn’t push myself. I typically ran the same pace and the same distances, my workouts lacked variety. I also don’t think some of my motivation was the most healthy.

In college I feel like a lot of my motivation to workout was simply to look better. I always wanted to be slimmer and to lose weight. However, since college I’ve really had a new spurt of motivation. I’ve been setting goals. In terms of running I want to get quicker and do more races. I’ve added variety to my workouts with weight training and more cross training. I’m also eating a lot better than I used to. I’m taking a fitness assessment from the gym at my college this weekend to get a baseline as to where I’m at physically, to set-up a baseline. The last time I had one done is high school so it will be nice to see if I have gotten stronger.

Maybe it’s my overall lifestyle change, but I feel like I look and feel better than I ever have and I’m not as worried about the number on the scale. Being healthy is my new motivation. This is a huge shift for me and I’m happy about it, it’s nice not to obsess over my weight. What motivates me now is feeling healthy and achieving my goals.

Hi I’m Valerie!

One of my favorite feelings is putting on my sneakers and going for a run. I also have a slight obsession with all things fashion related. This blog will follow me as I juggle life, train for races and lust after amazing outfits.